Adventures in Carb Cycling

[GME]

Tuesday 4/15

Back to 224 today. No uncharted territory, but the bounce back down came quicker than usual I think. Probably the running.

Yesterday's eats:
Total: 2101
Fat: 139 1249 63%
Carbs: 56 157 8%
Fiber: 17 0 0%
Protein: 144 578 29%

I did C25K W2D1 today. The runs are up to 90 seconds now (6 of them) with 2 mins in between. It goes by so much faster with the podcast than it ever did staring at a stopwatch. I was feeling it during run #5 when I reached my turnaround point and then I ran straight into the wind. Ugh, #6 was tough and I was wondering if I would make it back without getting buried in a sandstorm. It feels good to get it done though.

I'm pretty proud of myself for not backing out of running today. I went after school and several things happened that could have made me cancel, but I didn't let them. Go me!

Thanks for the encouragement Twyla. I poked my nose in your journal the other day- you are tearin' it up with the workout schedule, especially on top of work and kids and everything else. We really do have to take care of ourselves and the rest will fall into place.

[GME]

Wednesday 4/16

224.5 today

Yesterday's totals:

Total: 2057
Fat: 144 1292 64%
Carbs: 68 192 10%
Fiber: 20 0 0%
Protein: 132 527 26%

I ran W2D1 of C25K yesterday at the beach and today is a rest day. I'll get out there for day 2 tomorrow.

I measured myself last night. In the last month I have lost 6 lbs, 1/2 each inch off my waist, thighs and arms and 2 inches of my hips . No wonder my pants are sagging in the butt. As nice as that is, I don't want to turn into a big rectangle.

I may have some good news on the job front. There is a rumor going around that teachers with my credential are off the layoff list and letters are being sent out to let us know. I don't have anything yet, I hope its true.

I'm off to Trader Joe's and the grocery store.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Gina,

Your mac's look good and healthy.

Look at you! You gooooooooo, girl!

Now I'm jealous that you have a Trader Joe's.

Near the ocean.

Trader Joe's.



Glad you were "saved by the bell," literally.

[GME]

I must say I'm happy to have a Trader Joe's. They have the most delicious blueberry green tea. I bet you have good stuff in WV I don't even know about.

One of the nicest people I have ever known was from West Virginia. When I first started teaching I took her second grade class when she had a baby. I loved her accent. Oh, I bet you have it too! Now I'm going to read all your posts in my mind in her voice.

[GME]

Thursday 4/17

223 today I am still doing the bounce thing, but the cyles are getting shorter.

Yesterday's totals:

Total: 2145
Fat: 174 1565 72%
Carbs: 41 122 6%
Protein: 122 488 22%

Today is going well so far. I went down and ran W2D2 today after work. It felt good, but wasn't easy. If D3 is that tough I may give W2 another day or two. I don't even know what W3 entails, I guess I should check that out. It was a good run for shells though. I found two whole, unpecked sand dollars and a big barnacle shell I think is fossilized. I scratched up my phone running with it and sand dollars in my pocket, but I can't pass up an unpecked one.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Gina.

Don't ya hate the scale-bounce thing!



Good attitude. It's meaningless, the scale. So much is going on inside. It'll happen.

Speaking of sand dollars, my family and I vacation at Marco Island, FL, every year....the sand dollars there are heavenly...it's like you wanna scream, "Jackpot," when you wade to the sand bar....we can pick them up by the handfuls. The shelling there is amazing...our piece of paradise, Marco is.

Poppin in to say hey (that's pronounced HAY'-ee in WV)...........have a great weekend.

[GME]

Friday 4/18

224 today. No exercise, unless running errands counts. Ha, I wish. I was on the go from 7 this morning until just now. Got some stuff done though so the weekend will go more smoothly. I plan on going out in the morning to run.

Yesterday's totals:

Total: 2046
Fat: 141 1267 63%
Sat: 18 161 8%
Carbs: 47 135 7%
Fiber: 14 0 0%
Protein: 149 597 30%

It's funny you should talk about wanting to yell "Jackpot!" because I actually say "Score!" out loud when I find one. When I come home I tell my family it was a $2 run (or $1 or whatever)

Our beach is fairly picked over by the touristas, but I can usually find one a day. I've found fossilized vertabrae and even a dolphin skull. DH tried to tell me I shouldn't take it home, I had to tell him he obviously didn't teach elementary school. We just don't pass that kind of thing up.

[GME]

Saturday 4/19

I thought I posted this morning??? Where did I post my journal entry if not here?

Anyway, 222.5 today . I went down and ran this morning W2D3... that takes me about a mile and a quarter and then I walk back. Today was tough. The tide was high and still on its way in. I had to run higher on the beach in the softer sand.

I think I'll do another day of week 2 tomorrow at an easy pace. We are going out of town next weekend so I wanted to run MWF, but I hate to pass up a day when I can go early in the morning. I'll see how I feel in the morning and decide then whether to tak a rest day.

[GME]

Sunday 4/20

221.5 this morning. I've got a little whooshie going on . I hope it lasts awhile.

[GME]

Monday 4/21

221.5 again today, I am not complaining.

Yesterday's totals:

Total: 2016
Fat: 175 1573 78%
Carbs: 47 163 8%
Fiber: 6 0 0%
Protein: 72 287 14%

I didn't run Sunday. I was doing some reading on running websites and one of them said that many new runners injure themselves because people build lung capacity before their joints and such build up strength. So you feel like you can go longer, faster, harder, but you really can't. That made sense to me so I took Sunday as a rest day. We went to the range and I did some walking and shooting so I got a little something done, but nothing too strenuous.

On to the exciting news.... I did week 3 day 1 today. It has two 3 minute runs (the longest before today was 90 seconds) mixed with two 90 second runs and I did it! And it wasn't even all that hard! I knew it was coming and I was a bit worried. I was prepared to walk the end if I had too, but the first 90 second run came and the podcast guy said it was time to walk again and I said to myself "What? Already?" and I knew that was a good sign. During the last minute of the last run I even kicked it up a notch. Go me!

This is the first workout I have ever done that I didn't look for excuses to bail out of. The wind was blowing like the dickens and I just figured I would have the beach to myself. You see, I switch to my own music when the run is over and I walk another 20-30 minutes and I like to sing, out loud. And I am. not. a. good. singer. It really is best if no one is around.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Gina.....I love crashing your party!

You are an inspiration to me.

I'm gonna do C25K....I am, I am, I am!

Just watch me.


Keep up the great work!

[GME]

Wednesday 4/23

Hi Twyla, crash all you want. Sometimes I feel a little silly just typing away here. It makes me feel like I'm talking to myself. If you stop by periodically then I'm not crazy.

222 yesterday and 221.5 today. I felt like I would be up for a loss into uncharted territory this morning, but I didn't sleep like I should have... 6.5 hours instead of 8. I think it really makes a difference to me. I'll hit the hay early tonight and see if I can pick up that loss in the morning. It might be hard to sleep though... I'll have to go to bed not knowing who gets kicked off American Idol .

It's hard to believe how much of a whole-body workout running can be. I knew it would be good for my legs and butt, but after increasing my speed and time Monday I can feel it in my core and legs.

My cals were low yesterday but I just wasn't hungry. I had breakfast, then I was hungry at recess time (11:00) so I had a Lara bar. I wasn't hungry at lunch but I ate it anyway because I knew I had a late meeting afterschool. Oh, I just remembered I stopped for a SF mocha on the way to the meeting so my totals are off by that much.

Total: 1266
Fat: 81 731 59%
Carbs: 52 186 15%
Fiber: 6 0 0%
Protein: 78 313 25%

I'm going out to do W3D2 today. We may have rain this afternoon, but unless I'm going to get hit by lightning or washed out to sea I'm going anyway.

[GME]

Friday 4/25

Ugh, I've had an unpleasant couple of days scale-wise. I went to bed Tuesday expecting a loss (I could just FEEL it coming). Wednesday morning... nothing. So I think maybe it will show up Thursday... nope, 2.5 lbs UP to 224 And then today, Friday, the same as yesterday, 224. Very frustrating.

I'm not really surprised about today's weight. I lost it a bit last night AND ATE A BOWL OF RICE CRISPIES. Ugh, WTH did I do that for??? I had a stressful busy day yesterday, didn't have my CO in the morning, let myself get too hungry, was irritated by the scale.. many reasons but no excuse.

I was thinking last night about having such a "binge" but really I guess it wasn't that bad. I overate meatloaf first (meatloaf, really) and then had one bowl of cereal (I didn't even put sugar on it like I usually do). A few months ago that cereal would have been a normal afterschool snack and then I would have gone on to a full dinner and desert. It was the out-of-control feeling that is making it feel binge-y to me. I'll just have to dust myself off and move forward from here.

I'm going to be MIA until Sunday. I'm playing hookey from school today and we are leaving to go camping and to an archery tournament about noon. Before we go I will get the kids off to school (THEY have to go until lunchtime ), run W3D3 of C25K and get my hair done. It will be a fun weekend and I will get plenty of exercise. We shoot field archery which involves a lot of hiking up and down hills. This is a two day shoot so I won't run Sat or Sun. I think I'll go again Monday. I'm not sure if I'm going on to week 4 or if I'll give week 3 another day or two.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Gina,

If you're still around, haven't left to go camping, PM me.

[GME]

Thursday 5/1

Well here it is Thursday. Camping/archery went fine. I got a ton of exercise and stayed 99% OP and came home at the same 224 I also came home with a horrible head cold which kept me from running. Add to that testing and Open House at school and today I'm at the same 224 But... we had four boxes of doughnuts in the staff room this morning as a thank you AND I LEFT ALL THEIR PRETTY PINK LIDS DOWN AND THE INNERTUBES OF POISON RIGHT WHERE THEY BELONG... IN THE BOX. I had a lemon Lara bar instead. It was really good. Not extremely LC, but good clean ingrediants (dates, nuts and lemon juice in this one) and it helps me to have something easily portable, non-refrigerated and sweet.

I still can't breathe but I ran after school anyway. I added a day to week 3 and may add another. It's scary how quickly you lose conditioning. I'm glad I went. Makes me feel like I'm back in the groove. I'm leaving to go to Costco in a bit to stock up on good LC stuff.

That was another problem... I wasn't home to do my usual weekend stock-up and I was left with limited choices. My carbs were high and my cals too low for the past couple of days. I'm sure that is making the stinky little 224 stck in my scale.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.....

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Feel better, Gina.

[GME]

Friday 5/2

Hi Twyla Thanks for stopping by.

223.5 today. Down a little so that's good, but why is it I can gain 3 lbs overnight, but it comes back off a half pound at a time?

I haven't finished FitDay for yesterday, so I'm not sure about cals and carbs....

OK, so now I updated it. It was quite a pain because I kind of grazed for dinner but it turned out pretty OK

Total: 2194
Fat: 149 1344 63%
Carbs: 58 166 8%
Fiber: 17 0 0%
Protein: 156 622 29%

[GME]

Saturday 5/3

Finally back to 221.5. It's good not to be up anymore, but is it too much to ask for new ground???

Yesterday's totals:

Total: 2027
Fat: 126 1137 59%
Carbs: 114 357 19%
Fiber: 25 0 0%
Protein: 107 429 22%

Carbs were high. We went to Chilis and I had a big southwest-y chicken salad with black beans and corn in it. It's strange how much I love, love, love black beans and corn together.

Rereading what I wrote, I find myself thinking "Well of course you didn't lose. You ate over 100 carbs yesterday, Dingaling!" But I'm trying to do things differently this time. I want something I can maintain, even if it takes a little longer. I'm fine with cutting out (or SEVERELY limiting) sweets and junk, but to cut out things like black beans and live on 20 carbs for the rest of my life is something I don't personally think I can do. I have had to resist the urge NOT to eat or just eat chicken breast all week, trying to lose the gain I had.

[GME]

...had to take DSalmost15 to Saturday school for excessive tardies. There is a cute girl between him and 3rd period. Brings back Breakfast Club memories. I don't think his teacher raided Barry Manilow's wardrobe though. He just doesn't understand why I think it's funny he is in Saturday school.

Anyway.... I've been very strict in the past and lost quickly. But unfortunately I gained it back even faster. I know I've told this story somewhere on the boards before, but I gained once with the stomach flu because all I could keep down was crackers. What damage was I doing to my metabolism if my body saw a few saltines as something it needed to hoard?

I ran day 1 of week 4 of C25K after taking junior to school. I ran for 5 minutes straight today! I ran 3 min, walked, ran 5 min, walked, ran 3, walked and then a final run of 5 min. I always run out and then walk the whole way back to cool down, stretch and get a little extra workout in. I was feelin it too. I decided I was not going to quit the runs no matter what though. I went pretty slowly there for awhile, but I did not stop. Go me! The beach is so nice in the morning I'm going to go again tomorrow.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Total: 2027
Fat: 126 1137 59%
Carbs: 114 357 19%
Fiber: 25 0 0%
Protein: 107 429 22%

Carbs were high. We went to Chilis and I had a big southwest-y chicken salad with black beans and corn in it. It's strange how much I love, love, love black beans and corn together.

Rereading what I wrote, I find myself thinking "Well of course you didn't lose. You ate over 100 carbs yesterday, Dingaling!" But I'm trying to do things differently this time. I want something I can maintain, even if it takes a little longer. I'm fine with cutting out (or SEVERELY limiting) sweets and junk, but to cut out things like black beans and live on 20 carbs for the rest of my life is something I don't personally think I can do. I have had to resist the urge NOT to eat or just eat chicken breast all week, trying to lose the gain I had.

Gina, may I offer a suggestion?

Upping your carbs can be tricky, and it may work best to do it gradually, first of all.

But remember that as you up carbs, it's best to lower fat. Looking at those numbers, your fat needs to come down some.

Also, people who have best success when upping their good carbs want to remember to keep their protein up. Protein is a thermogenic. Fat has the lowest thermic effect of all foods. Maybe you should try upping your protein to 130 grams per day minimum.

When you eat lean protein foods, 30% of the calories are burned off just to digest and absorb them. When
you eat fatty foods, only 3% of the calories are burned off during digestion and absorption.

If you were doing strict Atkins, higher fat is the way to go.
But adding carbs as you are, you need to watch your macronutrients more carefully and balance them accordingly for best fat burning, and keep the protein higher.

Running for five minutes straight!! Way cool! Keep up the good work.

[GME]

Sunday 5/4

221.nothing today. Finally, a little new ground. A half a pound, but new ground just the same.

I always welcome your suggestions Twyla. Before you came along here I was eating half of what I am now and still not losing at all . I'm not intentionally upping my carbs though, it was just a fluke day. I didn't do Fitday until after the fact, hadn't planned on going out to dinner, blah, blah, all the usual stuff. What I was trying to tell myself yesterday was it isn't the end of the world. There have been times when "cheating" like that would have sent me to tuna and mayo for several days. And then I would have stalled on that, where do you go then? Well... you get frustrated and eat whatever junk you can find since you are not going to lose anyway.

Later down the road, when I am at or near goal like you are I may do some tweaking, but it looks like a more complicated process than I am willing to undertake right now (I read your journal sometimes). I am just going to keep with my current plan with as few fluke days as possible. I'm not hungry, I feel good and I am losing. I appreciate your concern

I haven't finished Fitday from yesterday because we went to the Boardwalk. It was our first trip of the season. We rode all of our favorites AND I DIDN"T EAT ANY OF THE GOODIES. I ate some egg salad and leftover chicken before we left, had some Diet Pepsi while we walked around and some smoked sausage and cheddar when we got home.

My running clothes are in the dryer and I think they're done now. I'm going to eat a little something and hit the beach for W4D2!

[GME]

Whew, I didn't think I was ever getting on the computer again. I've been busy, kids with homework projects needing the internet (We only have one connection. I won't allow internet in bedrooms). I have internet at work, but it won't let me post here. It will let me on FitDay however so I have been journaling there. I've been having a little mini-crisis I'll share for any interested parties..........

Monday 5/5

222 this morning

OK, what the duece? I just looked at reports in FitDay and have had no overall loss in two weeks??? I have also run 9 times in that two weeks. The calories eaten vs used shows a 800-1000 deficit every day. What could it be???

1. Over-estimating calories burned?

Could be. Other calorie estimating sites come up with lower numbers for resting amounts burned. I'll check some other places and see if I can come up with an average.

2. Under-estimating calories eaten?

Maybe, but I don't think so. I measure pretty regularly and if I don't I go high to be safe.

3. Too big a deficit?

Another maybe. I have heard (from Twlya ) that you shouldn't have a deficit bigger than 500 cals. I feel like I eat a lot though. I don't know how my body could think it is starving. I also wonder if the 300-500 recommendation is for people with a lot to lose, or those near goal? 400 cals is 24% of a 1700 calorie diet, but only 13% of the 2900-3100 Fitday is telling me I need to maintain. I have also heard you should eat maintanance levels for the weight YOU WANT TO BE. I'll check into that with #1.

4. Too many "mess-up" days?

Another possibility. I have had four-five days in the last two weeks where carbs were high, cals were low, etc. They weren't super-bad, but not where I had been losing.

5. I'm being too impatient.

Maybe I am losing inches and am fretting over nothing. I have lost 4 lbs in the past month. That isn't tearin' it up, but it's nothing to sneeze at.

???????????????????????????????????????????????

Reading back, I think I probably have a combination of #4 (mostly) and some #5.

What to do???

First, I'll get back to tracking carefully and go through Fitday and find the times I was losing and get my macs back there.

Second, measure. I had to take a sweater back off this morning and put it in the "too big" pile because it just looked sloppy. Maybe I'm just "settling"

Third, I'll do some research on calorie needs and see if I really have an accurate picture of where I am. Do I have he right size deficit for where I am and where I want to be?

Tuesday 5/6

221 this morning. Food wasn't bad yesterday but still not much of a loss today.

I measured last night and maybe a quarter inch here or there, but its so hard to tell if I am holding the tape in the same place, same "snugness" etc. I'm not really surprised since I have only lost 2 lbs since the last time I measured.

I'm cutting out the Lara bars (they may be full of good stuff but the carbs are too high) and I'm going to eat a bigger breakfast. I'm having a JR protein shake, which is good, but I don't eat lunch until almost 1:00 and I have been getting hungry about 11:00 (that's when the Lara bars come in). I'll either eat an extra sausage patty in the morning, or bring it with me. If that doesn't help, I have been putting 1/3 of a banana in my morning shake (well, its one banana but the pitcher is split 3 ways) and I can cut that out. I'll pour my shake before I put the banana in and the kids can have 1/2 a banana each. If all that doesn't work I'll try cutting out the shakes.

I think I'm fine on the exercise front. I walk/jog at least 3 days a week for an hour. I'm up to 16 minutes of running during that time. Maybe I'll try a little weight-bearing upper body work too.

**********************************
OK, I went back through FitDay and found a week where I lost 4.5 lbs. I was at:

2000-2100 cals
140-150 grams of fat
40-60 carbs
120-150 grams protein

This is where I need to be. It was the week I started running so that had something to do with it I'm sure, but if I could lose half of that per week on a regular basis I would be happy.

So far today I am at

Total: 1100 need to add 900
Fat: 74 667 63% need to add 70
Carbs: 40 142 13% need 0-10
Fiber: 5 0 0%
Protein: 63 252 24% need 60-80

I'm cooking up some hamburger right now for tacos (taco bowl for me). Meat, sour cream and cheese should fit the bill for what I need to add tonight.

The extra sausage patty helped with hunger. We had a bunch of sugary junk from the administration at school for Teacher Day (they were just trying to be nice, but it was 99% carbs. I had a little scrambled eggs).

Since I seem to have the computer tonight, I'll research calorie levels, etc.

On the non-diet front we looked at a house we like last night. Its bank-owned and needs some work, but our agent thinks they are anxious to unload it and thinks we can low-ball them. We are putting in an offer on Friday. It is beach-cottage style, has an ocean view and will be really pretty with a little work. It has a lap-type pool too. It rarely gets over 75 degrees here, I don't know what posessed someone to put in a pool but if its heated I'll swim .

[GME]

Tuesday evening

It's almost 7:00 and I just finished dinner. For today my totals are:

Total: 2024
Fat: 146 1314 67%
Carbs: 45 162 8%
Fiber: 5 0 0%
Protein: 122 488 25%

That's pretty close to the mac numbers that magical week, but I am so stuffed I have a hard time believing I could lose anything. We'll see what the next couple of days brings.

[GME]

Wednesday morning 5/7

Down a pound to 220 today . That's a fresh pound too, not a bounce.

I don't have much time right now, but when I get to work I'll plan the rest of my day in FitDay to match the macs from the "Magical Week" and see what I can come up with.

*******Because of my kid's school schedules I get to work almost an hour before I need to. I'm not really a slacker

[GME]

Still Wednesday 5/7

I did some calorie need research this morning and got a wiiiiiiiiiide variety of numbers.... from 1700 to 3600. The most common number was about 2600 (but that was with very basic activity descriptions). FitDay says about 3000 when I run. I've been losing at about 2100 so that's a 500-900 cal deficit and sounds about right. I'll just keep on with the levels and %s I found I was losing at and see what happens.

[GME]

Thursday 5/8

Down another pound this morning...219

Notes to self....

Don't get sloppy and complacent
Eat more beef

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Originally Posted by GME

Thursday 5/8

Down another pound this morning...219

Notes to self....

Don't get sloppy and complacent
Eat more beef

Gina, it's good that you took into consideration the possible things that could have caused you to stall temporarily -- it could be any one or all of them. But I find it ironic that upping cals was followed by a loss. Again.

It's easy to allow ourselves to slip into the mindset of "well, maybe if I cut out more cals today, it will boost the rate of loss." It's good to go lower on some days, but we can't go for too long on the lower either.

So glad to see you're losing again!!!!!!

[GME]

You're so right. It is HARD to get past the idea that I have to eat more to lose more. I mean, I know it, but I have to work to keep it constantly in my mind or I slip into the "salad instead of steak, chicken instead of beef" mindset that has been ingrained for so long. You would think that an overweight person not paying close attention to what they are eating would creep up, not down, in calories .

I came across a post last night that sounded so much like one of mine... same size, same activity, 1600 cals or so and stalled. I told a bit of my story and offered her the same advice you gave me. I hope it works for her.

I have leftovers from the past couple of days so I am going to essentially eat the same things as I did on my losing days (dare I hope for another loss tomorrow?) then I'll work on some menus that fit the cal/fat/carb/protein ratios I seem to need. I'm off to Costco tonight for more beef!

[GME]

Saturday 5/10

Still holding at 219. No complaints, that's 2.5 lbs this week .

I ran week 4 day 3 today, but I think I'm going to add a couple more days before moving on to week 5. It was gorgeous out there. Overcast, misty and the tide was out so I had this huge, flat place to run.

Off to my mom's tonight. We'll go out to breakfast in the morning and to MIL's in the afternoon for a little get-together. Mom & MIL live about 5 miles from each other, but 150 miles from us.

We have four more weeks of school til summer vacation and are going to be crazy busy until then- trips, house guests, we're haggling over a house, end-of-school activities. I must, must, must not let this stuff get in the way of my running and exercise. I did fine with food this week once I got myself straightened out, but didn't run for four days straight . I let life get in the way.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Originally Posted by GME

Saturday 5/10

I must, must, must not let this stuff get in the way of my running and exercise. I did fine with food this week once I got myself straightened out, but didn't run for four days straight . [COLOR="DarkOrange"]I let life get in the way[/COLOR].

Way too easy to allow this to happen, isn't it!

[COLOR="Sienna"]But the awareness that YOU are important, your fitness, your goals, and making time for those....

LIFE WILL REWARD YOU IN THE END.

Have a great week.[/COLOR]